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Infant at center of second child neglect case since April

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BATON ROUGE - A child has been a victim twice in two separate cases dealing with abuse and neglect, police confirmed Monday.

Friday, Toni Mckines, 45, was charged with cruelty to juveniles after her grandchild was taken to the emergency room with severe injuries. At first, Mckines, told hospital staff the ten-month-old got hurt after falling while trying to stand up on the ground.

Investigators said the examining physician later determined that the victim had bruising all over his head and body, and he was also bleeding from the brain which resulted in the victim being rushed into emergency surgery. Eventually, police said, Mckines told them she left the infant unattended on the kitchen counter and the child fell while she was away.

Mckines was taking care of the child after the unidentified child's parents were arrested in April.

Then, Sausha Clay and Robert Scott were charged with cruelty when the baby was found malnourished and dehydrated. Clay is Mckines' daughter, the WBRZ Investigative Unit uncovered.

"I think it's shocking for people in the community to hear about cases of neglect. It's not shocking from the standpoint of people who work with poverty, neglect, and abuse," advocate Toni Bankston said in an interview with WBRZ reporter Brett Buffington for the Tuesday night edition of WBRZ News 2 at 10:00.

"Neglect is often generational, so practices in parenting are learned. Unless new practices are learned, sometimes hobbies are carried over into the next generation," Bankston added.

The child's siblings - an 11-month old and 6-year-old - were placed in the care of the state after the grandmother's arrest last week.